Lawmakers approved a road-funding bill last legislative session that both increased the gasoline tax by 10 cents per gallon and paved the future for tolling by asking the Gov. Eric Holcomb's administration to study the issue. The goal is to generate $1.2 billion in revenue the state estimates is needed to maintain and repair roads.

The bill also gave Holcomb's administration more freedom to toll roads without having to get the approval of the entire General Assembly.

Delph, who is the ranking member on the Homeland Security and Transportation committee, opposed the road-funding plan during session.

The state is seeking a firm to study tolling on specific legs of I-65, I-70 and I-94, according to a request for proposal issued by the Indiana Department of Transportation. The department also wants to take a closer look at I-465, not ruling out tolls for commuters in the Indianapolis area.

"No decisions have been made on whether to do tolling at all, let alone on a given route," Scott Manning, strategic communications director for INDOT, said this past week. "We're calling those (routes) out because we know there are significant needs there we'd want to address."

Earlier this year, however, former Sen. Luke Kenley, then chief budget architect for the Senate, said he thought "any plans that have been developed or looked at in that regard don't involve tolling" within the I-465 loop or on I-465 itself. Other GOP leaders were more hesitant to give a direct answer.

Still concerned about the potential for tolls on a major interstate for his constituents, Delph drafted an amendment during session to try to prevent tolling on I-465 but said he was told by leadership not to call the amendment for a vote because it was a "non-issue."

State Sen. Mike Delph(Photo: File photo provided)

"It's this kind of bait and switch which creates disillusionment, which jades the public," Delph said. "They don’t trust their public officials."

A report was prepared for INDOT in 2015 studying the impact of tolling on several key interstates, but I-465 was not one of them. According to the report, 19 percent of traffic would be diverted if I-65 was tolled and 17 percent of traffic would be diverted if I-70 was tolled.

The report listed 20 cents per mile as the revenue maximizing toll rate for I-65 and 16 cents per mile for I-70.

Indiana already has one toll road in the northern part of the state and a toll bridge on the southeastern side. Most drivers pay $2 to $4 to cross two I-65 bridges and the Ind. 265/I-265 bridge connecting Indiana and Louisville, Ky. Drivers pay $10.70 to cross the entire Indiana Toll Road.

"We’re going to have to ask ourselves, do we want to raise taxes more or do we want to entertain tolling," Holcomb said in a news conference during the legislative session. "In year 6, 7, 8, we’re going to have to seek more revenue outside (of taxes)."